2016 MEMORIES

I wanted to write this post purely for my own memories as I started writing a post similar to this last year which I never finished, and I regret that. So I’m just going to talk through month by month a brief description of what happened in that month for me, and hopefully it will be interesting for you all to read as well!

January – The beginning of 2016 was strange, I was in an uncertain mind set when it came to university. The September before I had started my first year of my degree and I was not enjoying it. So I dreaded going back and to top it off I had January exams. I found my degree to be very hard and felt like I didn’t know anything, but I actually did really well in my exams and this changed my perception on the whole situation.

February – This was probably the best month this year as in February I adopted Hector. I went into pets at home on the 7th with the intention of just buying more straw, I went around looking at all of the animals as I do and I spotted Hector in the adoption section. I immediately fell in love with him as I saw he was a Netherland Dwarf, my favourite rabbit breed. But once I learnt about his story and how he was so neglected I just knew I couldn’t leave without him, I adopted him there and then. In a way he was an impulse buy which I would never do usually with animals as they’re such a big commitment, but I had the resources, space and expertise to make such a rash decision and bring him home with me.

March – Following on from the best month comes the worst, in March my five year old bunny Poppy had to be put to sleep. She had a neurological disease called Encephalitozoon cuniculi, which made her back end weak. One evening I went to feed her and she could barely walk, it was heart breaking, I rang the vets immediately and booked her an appointment for the next morning. I spoilt her rotten that last night, I gave her all of her favourite veg and treats and gave her lots of cuddles as I knew that might have been her last night. The next day we took her to the vets and our vet said that it would be in her best interests to be put to sleep as she was so ill. I was there with her holding her when she went to sleep it was so sad but for the best. I still miss her every day and think about her all the time.

April – At the end of April I had completed my first year of my degree, I couldn’t believe it, it flew over! It’s hard to believe I actually managed as I really didn’t enjoy it to begin with. In April I also started to bond my bunnies Hector and Pepper. This went so well and they hit it off straight way and have such a strong bond now, they’re best friends. April is the month that I started blogging again regularly and I’m so glad I did as I have had so much fun doing it!

May – In May I finally turned vegan! I had been vegetarian for almost four years and wanting to go fully vegan since the beginning, but my love for cheese held me back. I am so glad I finally did it as I feel much better for it, health wise and morally. I have expanded my tolerance for vegetables, I used to hate vegetables but your taste buds change and I am getting in a lot more vitamins and minerals which I was not getting before.

June – In June I received my results for the first year of my degree. As stupid as this sounds, in a way I was hoping I had failed so I didn’t have to go back, as I didn’t have the best first year. But I didn’t fail, I actually got a 2:1 which I was really pleased with and I actually couldn’t believe I had managed to last the whole year with how miserable I was. I also celebrated my bunny Peppers 4th birthday and took the cutest birthday party photos ever!! You can see more of these photos here.

July – In July my mum and I went on holiday to Mexico. It was amazing, so beautiful and the wildlife we saw was just incredible. I just wish the humidity wasn’t so high there as it was uncomfortably hot for the majority of the time. I also got bit by loads of mosquitos there which by the end of the two weeks I was ready to come home as constant irritation from the bites was too much to handle!

August – August was such a chilled month, I turned 22 and for most of the days I stayed at home and spent time with my rabbits. If it was nice weather I would get them out in the garden in their run and I would sit in there with them with my laptop watching movies. The run I have for them is huge so I could fit in and there was still loads of space for them to run around. To keep the sun off them and prevent them getting too hot, I would put blankets over the roof and I had blankets inside to lie on, it was like our own little cosy den.

September – In September I went back to university to start my second year of my degree. I really didn’t want to go back as I had such a good summer at home and I hate being away, but I did and I was put in much nicer accommodation. The room I’m in this year is slightly bigger, newer and it has high ceilings so it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as the one I had in my first year. You can see my university room tour here. The room has made a big difference to how I feel when I’m there as in my first year I would come back to my room on an evening and begin to feel very anxious. I hated being there as I felt so lonely even though I wasn’t, just being in that dark room really had an effect on me and I couldn’t wait to get home every week. This year I don’t feel as desperate to come home as I did last year, I’m more settled now and I am much more productive with uni work.

October – I love Halloween even though I never do anything on the actual night but I managed to stretch Halloween out for a while month. I wore my Primark Halloween themed tote bag for the whole month and watched The Addams Family movies more times than I can count! I also wore black matte nail polish for Halloween and have been obsessed with that combo ever since!

November – Nothing really memorable happened in November, I was just on auto pilot getting on with college and the weeks flew by.

December – The beginning of December was stressful! This is when my assignments for uni all began to be due in, the first one went well as I had started it early but the rest were all due in one after the other. I have never been more stressed in my life trying to get those assignments in, but I managed and broke up for Christmas on the 14th. I then just relaxed for the rest of the month doing as many Christmasy related things as possible. This last month has went over so fast but I have definitely chilled to the max and feel refreshed ready to start 2017.